Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

) is a Japanese

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin, or they can be part ...

which emerged from

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

. The movement began activities in 1945, and reportedly includes 450,000 members. It was established by

Sayo Kitamura was the Japanese founder of the "dancing religion", Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō (天照皇大神宮教). Early life Kitamura was born on January 1, 1900, in what is now Yanai, Yamaguchi, Yanai city, Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan. She was the four ...

() (1900–1967), who claimed to be possessed by

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

under the name Tenshō-Kōtaijin. Its headquarters are in

Tabuse 270px, Umashima is a town located in Kumage District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 14,411 in 6947 households and a population density of 290 persons per km2. The total area of the town is . Geography ...

(, ''Tabuse-chō''), a town in Kumage District, Yamaguchi,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

History

Following the burning of part of her family property by an arsonist in 1942, Kitamura was advised by a healer to begin intense prayer and ascetic practices, taking cold baths and going to worship at a nearby shrine in the early morning, which continued for a few years.Kerner, Karen. 1979. “Building God’s Kingdom: Society and Order in a Japanese Utopian Community.” Dissertation. In 1944, she became possessed by a spirit that later claimed to be Tenshō Kōtai Jingū. The deity gave her orders, and if she failed to obey, it caused her immense pain. Later that year the deity claimed that it would use her to save the world. Kitamura started to speak more harshly and dressed in masculine clothes, claiming that it was more suitable for the way she now spoke. She also became openly critical of other established religions and the Japanese government and even the emperor, predicting that the war would end badly for Japan. During the first few years after her possession, Kitamura held daily sermons at her farmhouse, and her reputation began to spread in Tabuse. After the war ended, and proved her prediction correct, people began devoting themselves to her teaching. People claimed to be healed of their illnesses from hearing her sermons, and people began to seek her out for healing. Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō began garnering attention from the press in April, 1946. When Kitamura was imprisoned and tried for refusing to comply with compulsory rice quotas in the area, a local newspaper began publishing articles about her trial. Throughout the course of her trial, Kitamura also drew the interest of the prosecutor, Watanabe Tomekichi, who visited her during her probation to listen to her sermons, and converted soon after the trial ended. Watanabe later became an important figure for the religion. Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō registered under the Religious Corporations Ordinance on January 11, 1947. When Kitamura passed away in 1967, she was succeeded as head of Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō by her granddaughter Kiyokazu.

Beliefs and practices

Kitamura preached abandoning one's attachments to the "maggot world," especially to traditional, established religions, which she believed to be idol worship. Kitamura and her followers claimed that she was a messiah equal to Jesus Christ and Buddha. Followers practice a dance called ''muga no mai'' (, "Dance of the non-self" or "Dance of the non-ego"), which is why the religion is often referred to as the "dancing religion" (, ''Odoru shūkyō''). The religion's scripture is the ''Seisho'' (生書), which is published in four volumes.

References

External links

Tenshō Kōtai Jingūkyō

Japanese new religions Shinto new religious movements Tabuse, Yamaguchi 1945 establishments in Japan Organizations based in Yamaguchi Prefecture {{Japan-reli-stub

History

Beliefs and practices

See also

References

Further reading

External links